An Amazing Life
by Jesus' girl 4ever
Summary: "I wish I'd never been born." Aslan takes Edmund on a journey through a world where there are only three Pevensies. Will Edmund like what he sees? Based off of It's a Wonderful Life. AU because Aslan tells Ed what would have happened. Chapter 2 is a low T for suicide and dead people.
1. Prologue

**An Amazing Life**

Disclaimer: I own neither Narnia nor It's a Wonderful Life. Although I do own copies of both.

**Prologue**

Edmund placed his elbows on the balcony and his chin on his hands. It was Christmas Eve, the first proper Christmas Narnians had had for a hundred years. He sighed. "So why am I sad?" He turned to look toward where his siblings were overseeing a ball. All the women were clustered around Susan, the men around Peter, and the children around Lucy. He stared down at the ground, remembering earlier that day, and earlier that week, and month, and year…

_He had been holding court with his siblings, everyone bringing their legal cases to them. Edmund still didn't feel that a traitor had much of a right to participate in administering justice, which was sort of ironic, since he was the Just King. Even when he did contribute, it seemed that everything that came out of his mouth was wrong. He mixed up the defendant and prosecutor, transposed parts of two ancient laws, and even forgot to convert English currency, what was in his head, into Narnian currency, which should have come out of his mouth. Finally, Susan had whispered to him that he could take a break if he needed. He had escaped from the court room and hadn't entered it for the rest of the day._

He forcefully exhaled again. Rotating to again face the snowy landscape, he whispered, "Maybe they'd all be better off if I had never even been born."

"What did you say, my son?"

Edmund whirled his head around to see Aslan standing beside him. "N-nothing, Aslan."

"Edmund."

That quiet rebuke forced the young king to admit, "I wish I'd never been born."

Aslan sighed, great Lion tears beginning to fall from His eyes. "Do you really wish that?"

The eleven year old bit his lip. "Yes, I do. Everyone would be better off without me. All I do is make mistakes."

Aslan sadly contemplated His child. "Very well, Edmund. Climb on My back! We are going to a world where you were never born."


	2. Narnia Without Edmund

**An Amazing Life**

Disclaimer: I don't own.

**Chapter 1: Narnia without Edmund**

The first thing Edmund noticed as he slid off of Aslan's back was that it was snowing again and the snow was much deeper than it had been before they left. Edmund wrapped his arms around his body. "Why is it so cold?" He glanced around. "Is this Cair Paravel?"

Aslan nodded solemnly. "Yes, it is."

"Why is it so dark? It's almost like it's uninhabited."

"That, Son of Adam, is because it is."

Edmund turned to the Lion. "Uninhabited? Where are Peter, Susan, and Lucy?"

All Aslan said was, "Go in, Son of Adam."

So Edmund did, his Escort following silently. Inside the familiar halls, he saw no tapestries, no decoration, not even a single living being except the spiders who were forming cobwebs all over the castle. "It looks like it did when we first arrived, only worse."

"It has had another year to deteriorate. Of course its condition would be poorer."

Edmund slowly, dreading every step, made his way into the throne room. It was dark, dank, and dreary, nothing like the bright, cheerful room he and his siblings presided over. "Aslan, where are my siblings? I must see them!"

"Very well, My child; climb onto My back." Edmund once again scrambled onto the Lion, and Aslan took off. The scenery raced by, Edmund holding His mane to secure himself, until finally, Aslan stopped. Edmund again tumbled off of His back, only to recognize the battlefield of Beruna. At least, that's where he thought he was, but there were dozens of stone statues decorating the countryside. "Aslan? I thought You were taking me to my siblings."

"I am, Son of Adam."

Edmund's brow furrowed. "Then where are they? And why are there so many statues? There never was this many."

Aslan sighed. "This, Edmund, is what happens when only three enter the wardrobe."

"Oh, right. But I don't understand. Where were You?"

"Edmund, Edmund, Edmund, do you not know? I could not return since the prophecy could not be fulfilled."

"But, You said they were here. Where are they? Aslan, I must know!" he insisted when the Lion looked as though He would not show the boy where they were.

The High King above all Kings gradually lifted His paw. "You will find your brother on the other side of that rock formation."

Edmund took off as fast as he could. _Peter, Peter, where are you? _As he rounded the column, he saw the last thing he had expected. "Pete?" His shaking hands rose to cover his mouth. He dropped to his knees besides the battered, bloody, barely recognizable body of his elder brother. Gut-wrenching sobs echoed throughout the field. A Voice behind him startled him out of his grief. "You persisted upon seeing him, child."

"But- but I couldn't have made such a difference!" The boy bit his lip. "Where are the girls?"

"Lucy is father up the ridge, in that direction." The Lion pointed again.

Edmund immediately began to climb the rocks. "Lucy! Lucy!" Upon reaching the top, his eyes scanned the terrain, searching, hoping, praying that he would not find her body as he had Peter's. All he saw was several statues. Suddenly, he noticed that one of the statues was in the form of a human girl. "No. Please, no." He rushed up to the statue, pleading, "Let it not be so. Not Lucy." Yet, as he approached, he knew that it was her. "Lucy." His hands began to gently stroke her face before he threw his arms around his sister's neck, sobbing. "But how?" he choked out through his tears. "The wand was gone by the time you- No! You can't be dead simply because I wasn't here! Not Lucy!"

"Yes, Son of Adam. She is."

Edmund turned around to face Aslan. "How could You let this happen? Lucy loved You more than anyone else in the world!"

"Edmund, I told you; I could not prevent it because you were not here."

The boy looked back at his sister one last time before taking a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and saying, "Susan?"

"Onto my back! We have far to go and little time to get there." With a bound, the Great Lion raced off toward the west. They finally came to a stop near Lantern Waste. As Edmund tumbled off the Lion once more, he immediately began to scan the clearing for signs of his sister. At the edge of the clearing, he glimpsed the last thing he would have anticipated: a pile of bones with bloody strips of cloth interspersed among them. Tentatively, he crawled toward them, eventually recognizing the cloth as belonging to Susan's first Narnian dress.

"She was trying to get back to Spare Oom when Jadis's Wolves caught up with her," Aslan whispered.

"No. They're all dead. I made that much of a difference?"

"Yes, Edmund, you did."

"W-would Jadis ever be defeated?"

"Perhaps. It might have taken another hundred years, but perhaps one day, four children would have come to sit on the thrones." Aslan nudged the boy with His nose. "Come, Edmund, there are more people whose fates you must learn."


	3. England Without Edmund

**An Amazing Life**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**Chapter 2: England Without Edmund**

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER MENTIONS A MINOR COMMITTING SUICIDE AND DEAD BODIES! You have been warned!**

Aslan led Edmund to the wardrobe. "Come, Son of Adam."

"But, Aslan, aren't You coming?"

"Yes, Edmund; they will not be able to see us or hear us."

"Like in _A Christmas Carol_?"

"Yes." The two of them walked through the fur coats, out the wardrobe, and into the spare room. Once they were in the room, the first thing Edmund noticed was that his siblings' bodies were on the ground, looking like they had fallen out of the wardrobe. At a single glance, they didn't appear to have any wounds on them, yet they were certainly dead. The doorknob began to turn, and Professor Kirke entered the room. He froze in place upon sighting the bodies. The cricket ball tumbled from his hand to the ground. "Mrs. Macready!"

Soon the housekeeper joined him. "What's wrong, Professor? Did those children disturb- Oh!" she gasped upon seeing the bodies.

"Go phone the police and their mother. They must get here as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir." Mrs. Macready left, but the professor lingered a moment longer. "What could have happened? Might they have died in Narnia? But how?" Slowly, he too left the scene.

* * *

When the police arrived, they immediately went to the wardrobe room. After examining the room and corpses, they were about to take them away when a voice was heard from outside. "What have you done with my children?"

"Their... bodies are this way, ma'am." Mrs. Macready said as she led Mrs. Pevensie to the spare room. The door opened, and upon sighting Peter, Susan, and Lucy's corpses, their mother let out a bloodcurdling scream and fainted. Mrs. Macready swiftly removed smelling salts from her pocket and woke the lady up. Gradually, Mrs. Pevensie sat up. Once she had found her footing and stood, Professor Kirke said, "I'm deeply sorry for your loss, ma'am."

"You- How dare you! You who murdered my children!" Everyone's jaw dropped, even Edmund's.

"Mrs. Pevensie! No one knows what happened to your children, but I highly doubt that the professor murdered them!" the police investigator snapped. He turned to the man beside him. "Wilson, see that she gets home. And… telegraph her husband. He should know as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir. Come with me, please, madam." He escorted the woman out of the room.

"Professor, I'm dreadfully sorry about that."

The professor, however, shook his head. "No, she has every right to assume I murdered her children. They were here under my care and now they are dead. I would be surprised if she didn't think I had done something to them."

"I suppose you're right." He and his companions began to remove the bodies. "We'll take these to the coroner; find out what the cause of death was." Once the police were gone, Professor Kirke strode over the wardrobe and closed the door. He turned halfway around and said to his housekeeper, "The elder two came to me with concerns for the youngest. She had claimed to have found a magical land inside this very wardrobe. I wonder…. But it's too late to think about that now. What's done is done, and they are dead."

"Indeed." She took his arm. "Come, and I will make you some hot tea. Goodness knows you could use some right now." The two of them left the room.

* * *

Edmund took a fortifying breath. "Where are we going next, Aslan?"

"Hold on to My mane, Edmund." The Lion began to blow, and as He did so, the room disappeared, and was replaced by army barracks. An English soldier entered the room, holding an envelope. "Pevensie! You've got a telegram!"

Edmund's father walked up. "Thanks, Harrison." He eagerly opened the telegram and pulled it out. Once he had read it, however, his breath caught and his hand searched for a chair to sink into. His eyes filled with tears, and he began to whimper, "No. No. No, they can't be. It's impossible!"

"Pevensie?" Harrison asked. "What's the matter?"

"My- my children are dead."

"Oh, Pevensie."

"I- I have to go home."

"Of course you do. I'm sure that you'll be able to get a pass under these circumstances."

Edmund's dad slowly rose and left the barracks. Aslan nudged the boy, who had become rooted to his spot, with His nose. "Come, Edmund." The boy turned, his eyes filling with tears, as he gently entwined his hands in the Lion's mane. Aslan gave him a small smile before blowing the scene away again.

* * *

Now they stood outside the graveyard of the church the Pevensies attended. Three coffins lined up in front of three empty graves. Mrs. Pevensie stood beside them, dressed in black from her hat to her shoes, a handkerchief being twisted about in her hands. As the caskets were lowered into the holes and covered with dirt, she turned away, her sister-in-law Alberta reaching up to touch her shoulder. She jerked away and left the graveyard. Edmund reached out to touch her, but she couldn't see him and hurried past, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

* * *

After the funeral, Aslan showed the boy several different scenes, each having to do with someone in particular. The first was his cousin Eustace, who was several years older than when Edmund had last seen him, and was also nastier than ever. Eustace appeared to torment a girl about his own age terribly and consistently. After that, Edmund was shown another funeral, this one for the girl. He turned, confused, to the Lion. "I don't understand, Aslan."

"Because of the lack of your influence, Eustace was much meaner than he would have been otherwise. The girl he bullied couldn't stand it anymore and killed herself."

"What? I have that much effect on Eustace?"

"You will never know, Son of Adam." With that, Aslan breathed and showed Edmund another scene, this one of his parents. They sat in a courtroom, and it appeared that the Professor was on trial. The jury was just returning with a verdict. "Taking the coroner's report into account, as well as the testimony of Mrs. Macready and the other servants, this court finds Digory Kirke not guilty of murder, but guilty of neglect of his duty in caring for the Pevensie children, neglect that led to their deaths. Therefore-"

Edmund turned away; he couldn't listen to any more. His eyes met the Lion's. "Oh, Aslan!"

"Dearest Edmund, did you not know just how many lives you affect?"

"No! Please, Aslan, please take me away from here!"

"My son, there are yet two more people's fates you must see."

Edmund sniffled, wiped his eyes, and set his shoulders. "I suppose I'm ready."

"Come, then." The boy tangled his hands in the Lion's mane. The Lion again blew the scene away with a puff of His breath.

* * *

Edmund looked around at his new surroundings, not identifying anything. An older woman exited the house across the street from them. With a start, Edmund realized that he knew her. "Mother?"

The lady strode away, Edmund immediately following. After several minutes of walking, they arrived at a bus stop, where Mrs. Pevensie sat to wait. However, she noticed a man in the crowd that she recognized. "You." She rose and strode toward Professor Kirke. The next few minutes were very muddled in Edmund's mind, but he finally became aware when the crowd had succeeded in pulling his mother off of the professor. She yanked herself out of their hands and ran back toward her home. Edmund watched her go, his heart breaking in two.

* * *

The next morning, there was a knock on Mr. and Mrs. Pevensie's door. Mr. Pevensie answered it. "Hello?" On the other side of the door stood a man that he had never seen before. Behind him, on the street, writing on his car read, "Insane Asylum."

Mr. Pevensie, while wearing a confused expression, added, "Can I help you?"

"Mr. David Pevensie?" Upon receiving a confirming nod, he continued, "Your wife, Ellen Pevensie, has been declared insane and a danger to public safety. We have come to take her to an asylum."

"No. No, Ellen isn't crazy!"

"Yesterday she attacked Professor Digory Kirke without cause, which was not the first time such an incident has occurred."

Mr. Pevensie lowered his head. "Oh, Ellen."

"Would you like me to find her, sir?"

"No; I'll go." David Pevensie disappeared into the house and returned with his wife.

"Ellen Pevensie?"

"Yes?"

"The police have issued an order that you are to be placed into an asylum for the safety of the public." He took her arm and escorted her to the car. Mr. Pevensie closed the door and dropped to the ground. "Dear God! First our children, now their mother! How much more do You think I can take?" he cried, sobbing.

* * *

A week later, David Pevensie was found dead. Most believed that it was from a broken heart. "Aslan, I can't take any more! Please, take me away!" Edmund screamed, tears streaming down his face. With a small swipe of His paw, the Lion took them from England to what we know as the Wood Between the Worlds. Edmund continued to weep, eventually falling to his knees. Aslan placed a paw on the boy's shoulder. "I- I- I- didn't know- didn't think- Oh, Aslan!"

"My son, do you not think that I knew what I was doing when I created you?"

"I- I- Of course You did."

"Then why do you wonder why I made you?"

"I guess I thought that… I don't know. But, Aslan, I understand that You couldn't return because the prophecy couldn't be fulfilled, but You were still in charge. How- how could You let those things happen?"

"Dearest Edmund, they made their choices. The Beavers told Peter, Susan, and Lucy that they could never defeat Jadis because there were only three of them, yet they refused to consider returning to your world. Eustace's 'friend' decided to not go to an adult for help. Your mother would not believe the professor when he told her that he had nothing to do with your siblings' deaths, and she harbored hatred in her heart for years. Your father chose not to confront her about her hatred, even though he knew of it."

"And the professor?"

"He was the one to bring Jadis into Narnia at the beginning of time. But, Edmund, remember that though My will is always going to done, I also allow My children free will."

"Like You allowed me to follow the Witch."

"Indeed."

Edmund took a deep breath. "Aslan, I want to live again."

_A/N: I'm sorry this took so long, but at least it's not a short chapter! Anyway, after this one all we have left is the Epilogue! _

_Thanks to Tenethia South, Ariel_of_Narnia, and Gypsevedius of The Lion's Call for helping me with most of this chapter during Writer's Group! You guys are the best!_


	4. Epilogue

**An Amazing Life**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**Epilogue**

The Lion smiled and it seemed to Edmund that He purred before lifting His golden head and roaring. The scenery flashed by so fast that the boy nearly had to close his eyes. But when it all came to a stop, the two stood again on the balcony outside the ballroom of Cair Paravel. Aslan appeared to wink at the boy, after which He vanished as quickly as He had come. The king drew in a deep breath. "Edmund!" Lucy ran out onto the terrace.

"Yes, Lu?"

"Come on! The dancing's starting!" She pulled him back into the room, where Peter and Susan waited. Once the younger two were in position, the music started. The Four were soon joined by the rest of the guests at the ball. Edmund danced with Susan for the second dance before dancing with any young lady who wished to dance with the Just King. The last dance of the night was reserved for his little sister.

After everyone had danced to their heart's content, there was a last round of wine and toasting (Lucy and Edmund were not allowed to partake of the wine.), where those who wished could toast to what or who they wished. Following many salutes to many different people, Peter said, "I'd like to propose a toast. To my brother Edmund, the wisest man in Narnia!"

"To Edmund!" The young king blinked, astonished, as he realized that he was appreciated, supported, and loved.

He truly had an amazing life.

_A/N: Well, it's over. I know it was a very short story, only a prologue, epilogue, and 2 chapters. But I had fun writing it, and I hope you had fun reading it. Reviews would be greatly appreciated! (hint, hint ;) )_

_Also, a couple of songs that remind me of this fic: Amazing Life by Britt Nicole and Meant to Be by Steven Curtis Chapman. If you have time, I'd recommend going to listen to them!_


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